Black Disabled Woman Syllabus

Mar 18

Over the past few weeks, I have been approached by individuals who wanted to understand the Black disabled experience, particularly the plight of Black disabled women and why our struggles matter. (The inquiries picked up when I published my “Lemonade” post last week.) I noticed a pattern from those who asked of my knowledge and personal reflections: many are ignorant of the experiences of Black Americans in general, Black women particularly, and when broken down further, Black disabled women specifically.

I decided that as someone who views herself as an “educator” within my advocacy scope, it would be fitting to create a compilation of books, essays/articles, speeches, music, and other bodies of work that accurately explains the diverse forms of Blackness that exists for Black women, and how the lives of Black disabled women meshed within that discourse.

I asked some of my incredible friends and fellow advocates for resource recommendations for this idea, and was provided a wealth of information that surpassed my hopes in establishing a “syllabus” of our intersectional experience.

The Black Disabled Woman Syllabus is a “living” document; meaning that I aspire to update it as needed, when resources become available that should be added to it. In order to do that, I need your help: If there are bodies of work that should be on the syllabus, there are two ways to make recommedations:

Use the hashtag #BDWSyllabus on social media to share your recs.
Email me at Vilissa@rampyourvoice.com.
Subject heading of your email should read: “BDW Syllabus Recommendation.”

There’s only one thing left to say: Class is now in session.

Black Feminism / Womanism

Ain’t I a Woman by bell hooks
Alice Walker’s Womanism: Theory & Practice by Elisabeth Torfs
Black, Female, And Able: Representations of Sojourner Truth and Theories of Embodiment by Meredith Minister
Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment by Patricia Hill Collins
Black Woman’s Manifesto: Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female by Frances M. Beal
Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings that Formed the Movement by Kimberle Crenshaw
Feminism Is for Everybody by bell hooks
Feminist Theory: From the Margins to the Center by bell hooks
Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology by Barbara Smith
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose by Alice Walker
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts
On Intersectionality: Essential Writings by Kimberle Crenshaw (Forthcoming November 2016)
Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home by Anita Hill
Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics by Joy James
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America by Melissa Harris-Perry
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
Sojourner Truth: Ain’t I A Woman by Patricia McKissack
The Black Woman: An Anthology by Toni Cade Bambara
The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America by Tamara Winfrey Harris
This Bridge Called My Back, Fourth Edition: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherrie Moraga
The Truth that Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender, & Freedom by Barbara Smith
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngizo Adichie
When And Where I Enter: The Impact of Race and Sex on Black Women in America by Paula J. Giddings
When Chickenheads Come to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down by Joan Morgan
Women, Culture, & Politics by Angela Davis
Women, Race, & Class by Angela Davis
Words of Fire: An Anthology of Black Feminist Thought by Beverly Guy-Sheftall